Pianist Joel Hastings to perform at NSU

NATCHITOCHES – Pianist Joel Hastings will perform at Northwestern State University Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. The concert is part of the Louisiana Piano Series International. Tickets are $15. Students are admitted free.

Dr. Francis Yang and Dr. Christine Burczyk Allen are the organizers of the Louisiana Piano Series International. Information on the Louisiana Piano Series International is available at music.nsula.edu/lpsi.

The recital will include works by Domenico Scarlatti, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Mozart, Chopin and Tchaikovsky.

Hastings, a native of Canada, won the 2006 International Web Concert Hall Competition and the 1993 International Bach Competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

After performing at the 10th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, one reporter designated Hastings the “audience favorite” while another declared, “the kinetic fingers of this young Canadian reminded me strongly of his late countryman, Glenn Gould.” Critics have described his playing as “passionate, mesmerizing, hypnotic, and transcendental.”

His discography includes Franz Liszt’s song and operatic transcriptions, Frederic Chopin’s “24 Etudes” and selections of works by Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Mendelssohn and Scriabin. His latest CD, “Songs and Dances,” includes works by Grieg and Respighi with transcriptions of music by Bach, Schubert, Wagner and Gershwin. His recordings have been selected for Canadian critic’s awards, praised in publications such as American Record Guide and Musicweb International, and featured on CBC national radio as well numerous stations throughout the United States. The Naxos American Classics label will release his recording of solo piano music by Carter Pann.

A Steinway artist, Hastings has performed solo recitals and concertos in Canada, United States, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom. This past summer, he performed and taught at the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Arcidosso, Tuscany, Italy, and was a guest professor at the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China.

Hastings earned his ARCT diplomas in piano and organ from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, receiving a gold medal for the highest score in the country. He holds a doctorate in piano and a degree in organ from the University of Michigan. He is an assistant professor of piano at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.